☕️ Trump waives most Russia sanctions for diesel

Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Finpresso.

In today's newsletter:

🇷🇺 Trump waives most Russia sanctions for diesel deal

🇨🇳 China's economy grew 4.5% on export surge

📉 Nikkei falls 2% on tech selloff and oil

🏗️ Microsoft exits UK's largest AI data center deal

🏦 JPMorgan brings JPM Coin to Ethereum

Plus: 🌍 9 macro stories, 🏢 9 corporate stories, and 📑 6 research & reports.

📊 Before The Bell

• President Trump signed an executive order on Friday waiving nearly all the Russia sanctions and tariffs required under the Graham Act he had signed into law on September 18, clearing the way for a diesel supply deal with Moscow.
• The paused measures would have imposed tariffs of up to 100% within 30 days on Russia's top five oil and gas buyers, plus 500% tariffs on Russian goods, with Trump certifying to Congress the waiver serves US national interests amid his push to lower diesel prices.
• The move secures a deal under which Russia will supply over 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, 500,000 tons in November and 1,000,000 tons after that, though Ukraine's Zelensky called it a betrayal and US lawmakers accused Trump of appeasing Putin.

• China's economy grew 4.5% in the third quarter from a year earlier, as strong overseas demand for its tech goods offset a deepening property downturn and weak consumer spending, beating economists' 4.4% forecast.
• Exports did the heavy lifting: China's monthly trade surplus hit a record $133.5 billion, while government-led investment helped stabilize an economy still leaning on factories and foreign buyers rather than cautious households.
• The property drag persists, real estate development investment fell 20.6% in the first nine months, and Oxford Economics sees no sign the sector is bottoming out, limiting how far stronger industrial activity spreads to the wider economy.

• Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 2.05% to 63,984.45 in early trading today, dragged down by a selloff in US technology stocks and rising oil prices that revived worries about inflation and higher interest rates.
• The drop followed Friday's Wall Street losses led by AI and semiconductor shares, with rising energy costs feeding fears that central banks may keep policy tight or lift rates further, a particular drag on growth-oriented tech stocks, which are sensitive to higher rates.
• Chipmakers led the retreat as Taiyo Yuden sank 7.42%, the index's biggest loser, though one analyst noted that buying in value and defensive stocks could cushion the market; decliners outnumbered gainers by nearly two to one.

• Microsoft has walked away from its deal to anchor what Britain's government called the country's largest AI data centre, a project by UK firm Nscale planned for Loughton in Essex, citing power-supply problems.
• The exit leaves Nscale without any publicly announced customer for the site, following power-grid issues disclosed a month ago that already threatened a lengthy delay before the centre, originally due next year, could come online.
• Losing its anchor tenant could undermine Nscale's plan to list on Wall Street this year at a potential $35 billion valuation; the company says it is seeking alternative power sources and that Microsoft stays on board for a separate project in Norway.

• JPMorgan has extended its dollar-backed deposit token, JPM Coin, to the Ethereum blockchain for institutional clients, expanding a tokenization effort that began with the token's launch on Base in November 2025.
• The token mirrors JPMorgan's existing bank deposits on a public blockchain, letting institutional clients make direct onchain payments and peer-to-peer transfers across the Ethereum ecosystem, including Base, with faster settlement than conventional rails.
• The move adds to JPMorgan's Kinexys platform, which has processed over $4 trillion in cumulative transactions and now averages $7 billion in daily volume, as the bank brings more traditional instruments like money-market funds onchain.

🌍 Macro News

• China plans export controls on 40 technologies, including AI, chips and solar. LINK
• Taiwan will tighten AI chip exports to China, seeking favor with Washington. LINK
• Major companies oppose plans to trade their shares as tokens. LINK
• Bond selloff tightens euro-zone financial conditions, slowing growth while helping curb inflation. LINK
• Import prices rose 1.1%, lifting annual inflation to a four-year high of 8.1%. LINK
• US industrial production rose 0.7%, its strongest annual pace since 2022. LINK
• Gold edged higher as investors weighed prospects for another Fed rate increase. LINK
• French protests over living costs and services turned violent before spending vote. LINK
• US-Mexico trade talks stall over tariffs on Mexican autos and metals. LINK

🏢 Corporate News

• Anthropic pledges 5% of shares to a fund addressing AI's societal impact. LINK
• Nscale investors resist $30 billion IPO target, favoring valuation near half. LINK
• Apple and Meta bring Meta's Muse Spark AI model to high-end Macs. LINK
• Netflix names Peter Rice content chief amid efforts to revive viewership. LINK
• CXMT shares fell 6.5% despite forecast of sharply rebounding profits. LINK
• Appeals court removes class-action status from Tesla self-driving advertising lawsuit. LINK
• Accenture explores sale of China business for up to $1.5 billion. LINK
• Jio's $3.6 billion IPO attracted record $30 billion institutional demand before opening. LINK
• EverWind commits over $10 billion to Nova Scotia data-center and renewable-energy projects. LINK

📈 Stocks

📑 Research & Reports

• The AI stocks most people aren't watching yet: flags under-the-radar AI names beyond the megacaps, in a free briefing. Read the free briefing
• AI data-center expansion could add over 50GW globally in 2027, SemiAnalysis projects. LINK
• Just 8% of fund managers report AI has measurably improved investment returns. LINK
• AI competition hinges on power, financing and data-center access, Morgan Stanley says. LINK
• WEF urges MENA to redesign power planning for surging AI data-center demand. LINK
• Smaller international firms favor stablecoins, but few accept them for customer payments. LINK
• Stablecoin remittances cost 1%, about 84% less than traditional transfers. LINK

📅 Market Calendar

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